Cloud, social, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are increasingly central to business decisions as the pace of digitization accelerates. The impact of software-defined networking (SDN), virtualization, and converged and hyperconverged infrastructure within the datacenter is substantial. These technologies add complexity but offer enticing opportunities for new business models, revenue streams, operating efficiencies, and agility that organizations must pursue if they want to remain competitive and viable. This pursuit requires businesses to keep up with current and emerging technologies and applications and transform the ways in which they conduct business. At the core of "keeping up" is an organization's datacenter strategy — with an associated technology and services strategy that will either create industry laggards or accelerate innovators.

The enterprise social software market is exploding thanks to converging trends of consumerization, cloud, and mobile. In this must-read report, "The Forrester Wave: Activities Streams, Q2 2012", Forrester Research Inc. evaluated five social software vendors with core strengths in the stream based on the overall strength of vendors' current offerings, a clear product strategy, and vendor market presence. In a detailed look at the space, Forrester named Yammer as a leader.